Family – Mark Peterkins

2022 Family Update

Mark Peterkins Family January 20, 2023January 30, 2023 6 Comments

Friends and family,

Welcome to our family update for 2022! We wanted to connect and give a quick update on our family!

Like everyone I think it was such a relief to begin to see our lives return to some normalcy. We’ve enjoyed family gatherings and some travel.

Here’s an update on our kids.

Ben finished his program at Algonquin College in Phone App Development. He landed a job working remotely for a startup software company called DependBuild (https://dependbuild.com) based out on the east coast of Canada. Ben’s enjoyed his first step into the career world. He’s living with some friends in Ottawa and we enjoy seeing him often, especially making meals together. Ben loves to cook and workout.

Meghan is in her 4th and last year for Kinesiology at university. She’s enjoyed it tremendously. She is living with the same 5 girls now for the 3 rd year in a row. That’s gone well too. Her plans for next year are not set yet. Meghan has enjoyed getting more involved in exercise – by becoming a group fitness instructor at the Queen’s gym and prescribing exercise programs for adults with disabilities in the Revved Up adapted gym at Queen’s

Last summer, Meghan worked with a Physio Therapist in an admin role, which was fascinating to her.

Meghan has had a close connection to Echo Lake Camp for many years and has developed many close friendships. They camp has been a great encouragement to her faith and certainly lots of fun. She aged out of it this summer and decided to celebrate the occasion with being baptized with a number of her friends.

Some other big news on our family front this year was the engagement of Stephen and Riya. Stephen proposed to Riya on an Italy trip they took together in September. We are trilled to have Riya (and her family) join our clan. They are planning for a wedding in August this year. They hope to purchase a home this year too.

Stephen continues to work remotely with Zapier as a backend engineer. So computer programming stuff!? He has also taken up Brazilian Jujitsu training out of the De La Costa gym on Ottawa. He hopes to participate in his first tournament this year.

Riya continues to grow her business as a Tattoo Artist and loves it. She works out @hungryxhound in downtown Ottawa. You can see some of her work on her Instagram account here.

We enjoyed hosting Mark’s family at our family cottage again this August. Not everyone could make it and they were missed. Mark’s brother John, contributed to the fun by introducing us to ‘Hot Ones’. It’s a game based on a popular YouTube channel where celebrities are interviewed while they eat increasingly spicy hot chicken wings. The ‘Hot Ones’ game includes 10 levels of hot sauce. 15 of us started with the first round (not very hot) but by round 5, a few started to drop off. It was a comical event with lots of panting, gulping of milk and numbness in arms (Stephen’s weird reaction to hot sauce). Of the 15 who started, 7 were able to finish with special shoutout to Meghan as the youngest and Roy as the oldest! Watch out for hot sauce #8 – The Bomb!!

Our family also got to enjoy celebrating Greek Easter at Thanos (Mark’s brother) and Josie’s home. This event is never short on food! As per tradition, it was complete with a whole lamb bbq’d on a spit. Delicious.

Mark and Tracy got a chance to travel to Texas for a wedding in early November. We used the opportunity to hang out in San Antonio for a few days together. It was during this trip that Mark got introduced to Corn Hole. We didn’t realize it was such a big deal with professional players and all. The game works as you toss bean bags at a single hole on a board – alternating with your opponent. Mark’s planning to build the boards and start training, I mean playing for fun, at the cottage this summer.

Tracy continues to work at two jobs – each part-time. She finds both to be stimulating and meaningful. This year she started playing golf with Mark and Meghan. We have a golf course near us at the cottage and we were able to get away a few evenings after dinner to play 9 holes. The boys (and Riya) have shown are renewed interest in golf (much to Mark’s delight) and hope to play some this summer. While visiting John and Vicki in Philly this Christmas we all went and played at Top Golf for the first time. Best way to describe it is that is like a gamified driving range with chip embedded golf balls to track your every shot and you receive points for hitting targets. You’ve got to try it if you get a chance.

Mark and Meghan worked together to plant and look after a veggie garden. It was the second year we grew habanero peppers from which Mark has concocted his own hot sauce. It gives #8, the Bomb, and run for its money!

For those of you living outside Ottawa, you may not have heard, but in May we experienced a significant storm – called a derecho storm. The storm was incredibly powerful and knocked out power in our city for days. Mary Ann’s (Tracy’s sister) power was out for 10 days. Interesting enough, some of the biggest damage happen near Mark’s office where there was numerous large, tall mature trees. After the storm it looked like a war zone. The storm has it’s own Wikipedia page now – see it here.

On the cottage front, we are looking into the possibility of converting our summer cottage into a year round home where we would move to. It’s close enough to the city for us to do that. It’s actually nearer to our office than our home is. Stay tuned.

Mark and Tracy continue to enjoy our local church community. This year we were involved in helping run the Alpha Marriage Course. It’s a great way to help strengthen marriages. We’d highly recommend it if you get a chance to participate in it.

Thanks for reading our update! We hope that you are doing well and we pray this year is full of health, joy and peace. We’d love to hear from you and how you are doing! Have a great 2023.

2017 Family Review

Mark Peterkins Family January 2, 2018 5 Comments

As the year draws to the end, we wanted to continue our tradition (as many others do) with a year-end family update.

Tracy and Maggie enjoyed a trip to New York City this summer to celebrate the birthday of one of Maggie’s close friends. Maggie is in grade 11 and life is full for her. She enjoys playing on the school basketball and volleyball teams, serving on the athletic council and participating in the youth group at church. This year she also started working at McDonald’s, a tradition started by Mark and his brother John more than 30 years ago!! I keep requesting a tour but that request has been denied so far. I’d love to know just how a Big Mac is made these days. Maggie continues to enjoy the camps at Echo Lake (3 times a year) where she has developed some great friends.

Ben is studying at Carleton Unversity (Tracy and Mark’s Alma Mater). He enjoys spending the week living with his aunt Mary Ann, who is a 10-minute walk to the university. Weekends he is usually back home. Ben spent part of the summer learning how to seal and paint parking lots. Ben and Stephen joined their Grandma and cousins in Florida again this summer at the end of August – the coolest time of the year in the southern states!!

With Stephen working this summer in Ottawa, I had a chance to train with Stephen as he prepared to run his first half marathon this fall – the Army Run. Race day turned out to be one of our warmer days this year but he did a great job in completing the run respectably. Stephen is about to start his last term at Queens after which he hopes to graduate with his engineering degree. We continue to get to know and enjoy his girlfriend Mackenzie.

One of the highlights this year for Tracy and I was to attend my mom’s (Gramma Lin) baptism. After experiencing her Christian faith more significantly over the past couple of years, she decided to demonstrate that by public baptism. It was a wonderful celebration.

This summer I tackled two significant projects – a complete bathroom renovation (a first for me) and new deck at the cottage. The bathroom came with lots of help and coaching from Roy (my mom’s husband), many of my handier friends and of course Youtube. I have to admit, there were a few occasions where I struggled and wondered if I was in over my head. I know you’re wondering, yes Tracy liked the results and I was able to pick up some new tools without any guilt.

In October Tracy and I had a chance to travel to London for work with our colleagues Richard and Terry Long. It was a great trip as we attended a conference together. Tracy and I also had the opportunity to visit with my cousins Malcolm (Noree), Brian (Julia) and Sue. It was so much fun to talk about the history of my family and for Tracy to hear about it. We also visited with Tracy’s cousin Dan and got a backstage tour of the Royal Opera House and saw his opera, Les Vepres Siciliennes. We thoroughly enjoyed London and were very fortunate to have fantastic weather while we were there.

This fall Tracy and I were part of an Alpha group that our friends (Mike and Alexis) hosted in their home. Alpha is a series of sessions exploring the basics of the Christian faith. We loved making new friends and seeing some of their questions and doubts from their perspective. It quickly became the highlight of our week.

On Tracy’s front, along with working at One Way Ministries (halftime) with me, she picked up a part-time job working with a small software company (Auctria.com) by answering some of their online questions that come in daily. This she is able to do wherever she is able to get an internet connection, so it offers a fair amount of flexibility. She also went on a “reunion road trip” with her friend Jackie to visit Sonja in Vancouver, and oh yes, see U2. The last time Tracy and Jackie flew together was in 1989 when they backpacked together as university students.

We both continue to enjoy working with One Way Ministries. We are part of a tremendous team and we are very fortunate to enjoy the work we do. If you’re interested in some of the details of what the organization does, you can see a year-end report here.

Tracy and I want to thank our family and friends who have loved and encouraged us this year. We really are enjoying an abundant life. We want to wish you a joyful new year.

God bless.

Why I Run

Mark Peterkins Family, Health, Leadership January 27, 2017January 27, 2017 0 Comment

I’ve always enjoyed the idea of running, but not until I turned 40 did I actually enjoy running. I’ve always enjoyed chasing balls and playing team type sports, but the joy of running was elusive. I knew running was good for me, but I just could not find a way to enjoy it.

Not until I went to watch my brother-in-law, Jamie, run a marathon in the Ottawa race weekend. While waiting for him to finish, I sat in the stands and watched hundreds of people come across the finish line. Some were finishing with a burst of speed and frenzy, others were slowing weaving and wobbling in under the watchful eyes of first aid personnel. Some looked sweaty and exhausted while others displayed joyful celebration with a fist pump as they crossed the line. There were all types of bodies, slim and runner-like to stocky. Old and young, male and female. They were accomplishing something special. And I was sitting in the stands …….. I didn’t want to be in the stands. I wanted their joy, the experience of finishing a race. That’s when I decided I’d be running next year in this race.

My next step was to find a way to train for this and was directed to the Running Room. There I signed up for their marathon-training program. It was a wonderful experience. Here’s what got me to enjoy running. They slowed me down. Whenever I went for a run in the past, I was pushing myself to run as fast as I could, my body was not used to running and so it became very uncomfortable. The Running Room program got me to run with others, which was fun. The key was to run only as fast as you could while having a conversation with someone. That is to say, you have to run so as not to get breathless and thus experience a gasping conversation. In running slower, my body began to change. It got more efficient and after a while I could run a bit faster without getting breathless. The idea is that you have to run slow to run fast. In fact, I later learned that high performing runners do a lot of training by running slow. Anyway, it started there. I ran my marathon the next year and finished my race. It was the hardest thing I ever had to do, but it was amazing too. It’s the only marathon I’ve run to date; I prefer the half marathon distance, as I don’t have to put quite so much training in.

Here are the reasons I continue to run.

It’s efficient and cost effective. Running is one of the most efficient forms of exercise. For the time you put into it, you burn the most calories. A pair of running shoes is all you need. When I travel, I can always get out for a run. I don’t need to find a gym.

It works well with my goal minded personality. It’s measurable. I try and run a couple of races each year and I can compare how well I’m doing by my finish time. I set monthly goals for how many kms I want to run and I track them with my phone running app. I can compare how I’m doing with my brother who also runs. (Yes we are a bit competitive!)

It’s an important component of a healthy body. All kinds of studies suggest running can help you live longer, provide better mental health as you age, better chances of avoiding cancer and diabetes.

It supports my other sports activities by providing a base of fitness. I play hockey once a week most of the year and so having a baseline of fitness allows me to keep my pace up towards the end of the hour I play weekly. I believe it reduces the chance of heart attack that we hear about with out-of-shape occasional hockey players.

It’s helped me develop some great friendships. When I go for a run with someone we get a chance to spend uninterrupted time talking. My current running partner is my neighbour Rob. Running has helped us develop a great friendship.

I can do it outside. Since growing up in southern Africa, I always have enjoyed being outside. Running gets me outside on a regular basis. It has helped me make friends with our Ottawa winters as I continue to run outside when the weather turns cooler.

Late fall run with Maggie and Stephen along the Rideau Canal.

It provides something for my kids to consider. Just like any commitment to exercise and activity, your kids watch that and hopefully it lays a foundation of healthy lifestyle for them. My kids didn’t really enjoy running as teenagers, but they’re coming around. Maggie will often go with me now and Stephen has committed to running a half marathon with me this fall.

Ever considered running?

Goals and Planning

Mark Peterkins Family, Leadership January 6, 2017January 6, 2017 0 Comment

One of the reasons I love this time of year is that I take some time to reflect on what I would like to achieve in the upcoming year. It’s like standing at the tee of a new hole on a golf course, full of potential and as of yet, you’ve made no mistakes. I admit it – I love plans and goals.

Here’s my process. I work on a year end family newsletter. Working on this allows me to look back and think about all that happened around me in the last year. In doing this I’m often looking for a pic or two to add to the letter. So I review all my pictures from the last year. I’m amazed at how looking back on them gives me a sense of gratitude for all I was privileged to be part of and quite honestly, reminds me of a number of things I’ve forgotten already. It’s an emotional experience.

Next, I work on a new family budget. I review how our spending was last year, and start draft-budget for this year. Full disclosure, I only tracked our family expenses until April in 2016. So naturally, one of my goals this year – is to track family finances beyond April 2017. Now I say draft budget because until Tracy has seen it and we’ve agreed together as to what our giving/spending plan is for 2017, is it’s not finalized. In the process of budget setting, we also look at our retirement savings and see if we are tracking to some sort of plan year to year.

Next I start drafting possible goals in my journal. More recently, I try and actually lay them open before the Lord as I sit in silence and ask him to confirm, redirect or lay other goals on my heart.

Some interesting facts about goals*:

People with written goals are 50% more likely to achieve than people without goals
The act of writing down a goal down in is a very powerful motivator
Writing down goals forces us to be avoid being vague
All motivational ‘gurus’ agree that goals should be written down
92% of New Years goals fail by January 15th
Only 3 out of every 100 adults write down their goals down on paper
Sharing your goals with a close ‘confide’ is proven to increase the chances of you achieving your goal
Specific goals which are time-bound and measurable work best
In the process of achieving your goal you will be sacrificing something else

Over the last couple of years I’ve used Michael Hyatt’s Best Year Ever material to create my goals and track them in Evernote. It’s very thorough. But you don’t need all of that to create your own. Here’s my suggestion. Take the different parts of your life say, spiritual, financial, professional, health and intellectual. Decide if you’re having problems, just not happy with any of them or you want to see improvement in that area. For instance, you want to lose 10lbs. Set a goal to lose 10lbs by a certain date. That’s your goal. But here is where the power is. What changes are you going to have to implement now to achieve that. Perhaps it’s tracking your eating every other month on something like Lose It. Perhaps it means you’re going to have to be active 3 times a week. Add those points to your goal. Do this for all your goals. Then finally share them. And if you’re really brave, ask someone to remind you about them periodically over the year.

In my family, we go out for Dim Sum lunch in early January and we share with one another what our goals are. I asked the kids to think about last year – share what were their highlights, how they did on their goals and what their goals are for 2017. This year I plan to ask each of the kids to bring them in written form. I’m not sure they are big fans of goals setting, but they love the lunch. We also talk about vacation plans and what big rocks as a family we want to drop into our schedule before they fill up too quickly. I try and ask them about their goal progress periodically during the year.

My goals this year? Well they’ll include reading a certain amount of books, losing some weight, running a couple of races, weekend get aways with Tracy, speaking publicly more about One Way Ministries and writing a blog once a week.

What are your goals?

* source: http://www.goalband.co.uk/goal-achievement-facts.html

2016 Family Review

Mark Peterkins Family December 31, 2016January 2, 2017 8 Comments

As has been our tradition over the last few years, we wanted to provide you an update to some of the happenings around the Peterkins homestead in 2016.

Let’s start with the kids.

Maggie now in grade 10 and having just turned 16, went out on her birthday and acquired her G1. Now Dad gets to start her off driving in the same neighbourhood as her brothers did.

Maggie has been attending Carleton Place High School. Unfortunately for Mom and Dad, that happens to be outside of our school zone, so that means driving her each morning to her bus stop a few minutes away and then planning for something similar at the end of each day. Perhaps we just as excited that she might be able to start driving to school soon!!

At school, Maggie has enjoyed her studies and playing basketball and volleyball for the junior school teams. She was voted MVP for her basketball team. Dad and Maggie have also been playing in a family volleyball league on Tuesday nights. Dad’s trying not to embarrass her too much!!

Maggie continues to enjoy Echo Camp hitting all the dates that she can – spring, fall and summer. She’s made a good group of friends from there. We are thankful for the great ministry there.

Also, Maggie was part of a youth missions team to Belize from our local church – without her parents. She was able to go back to the same village that Stephen and Ben had been at a few years ago. She loved the experience and cannot wait to go back.

Benjamin completed his grade 12 at Sacred Heart High School. As of this Christmas, he has just completed his first term at Trent University. His studies are business/computer science – we think
he’ll decide as he moves along. Ben spent last summer working two jobs, one at Menchies serving some great tasting “froyo” and second on Saturday morning selling eggs at a local farmers market. Ben also enjoys helping out on the soundboard at Chapel Ridge our local church.

Stephen finished off his third year’s studies at Queen’s University. He spent his summer working with an engineering firm in Kingston called Transformix. Maggie likes to remind him that it was through a contact from her basketball team that he was able to apply for the job. Stephen has just finished a work term and spent the fall working in Ottawa with Shopify – a job he landed without Maggie’s help!! The company conveniently provided a subsidized apartment downtown. He really enjoyed the experience and it was nice for us to have him close by. Also, our family has enjoyed getting to know Stephen’s girlfriend – Mackenzie who is fortunately also studying at Queens.

This year we celebrated a number of significant birthdays and anniversaries. Birthdays – Maggie – 16, Ben -18, Stephen – 21, Tracy 50. Anniversary – Mark and Tracy – 25 years.

As we think about 2016 we realize we were fortunate to be able to travel to a number of different locations this year – mostly for work. We traveled in March to New Orleans for a training conference on marriage, to Chicago for a leadership conference in August, a couple of times just out of town with a group we lead with One Way. In addition, Tracy traveled to Guatemala with Vicki (our sister-in-law) to help out at an orphanage. While Mark had a trip to Florida in February for some facilitator training (conveniently absent during the biggest snow storm of the year!!) and a trip to New York City with a work team. As a family we had trips to Philadelphia, Florida and Canada’s Wonderland.

This year has been a challenge for Tracy in that she has been nursing a nagging rotator cuff injury. It seems to be improving slowly. Along with her half time with One Way, Tracy also took on some part-time work working for a friend who runs an online auction website called Auctria.

We really do enjoy our cottage on the Rideau. We find it a wonderful spot to connect with and enjoy our family and friends. Also, we continue to enjoy the traditions of our families – Greek Easter (complete with a whole lamb roasted on a spit), cousins long weekend on the Rideau (always with fireworks) , Labour Day weekend softball tourney (including campfires and karaoke).

On Mark’s front, he continues to give leadership to One Way Ministries. He’s been spending more of that time in an area that’s newer to him – that being fund raising. It’s a wonderful team that we get to work with there. Mark is still enjoying playing hockey weekly, running and working out at the gym and a bit of golf. A highlight was again spending a couple of days with brothers John and Thanos in Watertown playing a round of golf in mid October. This year as in last, we were the only ones on the course so we got to take our time and hunt for golf balls without any pressure – mostly ours that were lost.

Blessings to your family from ours for 2017.